Earlier this year, Manchester United sponsor American International Group
AIG, +0.64%
was put largely under American government control in return for an $85 billion loan; West Ham sponsor and tour operator XL went bankrupt; and Newcastle United sponsor Northern Rock was nationalized by the U.K. government.

Auditor Deloitte & Touche said there are "material uncertainties" about whether JJB can survive, notably whether banks will continue funding it given actual and projected covenant breaches, whether JJB can re-pay bridging facilities, whether non-core businesses can be sold and the whether JJB can meet forecasts.

The company denied that it broke covenants, saying it's in a dispute with HBOS division Bank of Scotland over the terms of a 15 million pound facility and that Barclays has accepted there was no breach in a 60 million pound facility.

The company's own results in the half year to July 27 weren't too stellar.

JJB said it swung to a 9.7 million pound loss, with revenue falling 6% to 344.7 million pounds.

Same-store sales dropped 4.2%, though margins improved in the retail operations due to selling more own-brand products.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.